BJP Karnataka state president Vijayendra Yeddyurappa has launched a scathing attack on actor Kamal Haasan for his alleged statement, claiming that “Kannada’s roots are in Tamil,” he described the statement as an insult to Kannada language and 6.5 crore Kannada people.
In a post written in strict words on X, Yeddyurappa demanded an unconditional apology from Hassan and accused him of acting in Kannada films and showing his generosity, and accused him of showing ego and ungrateful attitude towards the Kannada community.
The BJP MLA from Shikaripura said, “Somebody should love his mother tongue, but to show disrespect in his name is an incomplete behavior. Especially the artists should have a culture of respecting every language. It is the culmination of ego that an actor Kamal Haasan, who has acted in many Indian languages including Kannada, has insulted Kannada by involving actor Shivrajkumar in Tamil language glory.”
Emphasizing the historical importance of Kannada, he said that this language has been a “major language” and is greatly respected in many regions around the world.
Yeddyurappa said, “Kannada has been a major language in many parts of the world for centuries. The fact that Kannada is the most respected language in the world, people with narrow thinking should be known. Kamal Haasan, who has also acted in Kannada films before insulting Kannada, has forgotten the generosity of Kannada and Kannada.”
The BJP leader accused Hassan of creating differences and accused him of insulting Hinduism for the last few years and hurting religious sentiments.
He further said, “Kamal Haasan, who is going to bring harmony in South India, has been continuously insulting Hinduism for the last few years and hurting religious sentiments. Now, he has insulted Kannada by hurting the self -respect of 6.5 crore Kannada people. Kamal Haasan should immediately apologize unconditionally from Kannada people.”
Yeddyurappa challenged Haasan’s right to make such linguistic claims and said that the actor is not “historians” making such claims.
The post further states, “Kamal Haasan is not a historian who can define which language gave birth to which language. But Kannada language, whose history is more than two and a half thousand years old, is a symbol of prosperity and represents harmony on the map of India. Let us remember Kamal Haasan, who spoke like a true sage, but said that Kannada people said, but we have talked about the language, Kannada lands, language, people, water and thoughts, so they have never sacrificed self-respect. “
